Are you looking for a good young adult novel to read this summer? Hey, me too! To me, summer isn't the same without a great YA novel to take to the beach or pool. I write young adult fiction, studied it in grad school, and can't get enough of it.
There are plenty of smart reasons to spend your summer break reading, too — like preparing for college and increasing your emotional intelligence. But that’s not what this blog post is about. Nope, the purpose of this post is to give you a lineup of fun, compelling summer reads. My recommendations are geared toward high school and college students, and I've included books from a variety of genres: romantic comedy, fantasy, horror, coming-of-age, etc. All these titles should be available at your local library, and if you don't see them on the shelves, your librarian may be able to order them from a different branch.
Ready to go? Let's dive into these top YA novels for summer reading.
Years ago, Mars vowed he would never return to the Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy —an elite, months-long summer camp that caters to political families like his. Sure, the camp looks idyllic. But its fairytale charm hides a toxic culture of bullying, particularly towards gender-fluid teens like him. He can’t help resenting his twin sister Caroline for immersing herself in the camp each summer, ignoring him in favor of her friends The Honeys: a squad of beautiful, magnetic girls who care for the camp’s beehives.
But when Caroline dies under surreal and horrific circumstances, he realizes the only way he can uncover the truth is to return to Aspen. After all, The Honeys were there at her funeral, and he swears they put actual bumblebees in her ear. What’s up with that?
Once he gets to the camp, reality gets even more distorted. He distrusts The Honeys but is drawn to them and their secretive cabin, hidden from the rest of the camp near the wetlands. The more he investigates, the more he realizes Aspen isn’t just a summer camp: It’s something much darker, and if he’s not careful, it will eat him from the inside out.
If you choose only one book from this list, make it The Honeys. It’s the ultimate summer read: a twisty, sundrenched good time. Literally, the twists have twists. You won’t see the end coming. And although the summer camp is plenty sinister, it’s also a tantalizing escape. We don’t necessarily trust The Honeys, but their cabin is so cute — so cozy! Just look at the cross-stitched bee pillows! Ryan La Sala embraces “cottage core horror” vibes, so you’ll be both chilled and enchanted throughout the book.
Plus, Mars is a likable protagonist: plucky, sarcastic, and deeply committed to his sister’s memory. His grief is authentic, which makes sense because La Sala wrote this book after the death of his own sister. Despite the book’s darker themes, the ending is uplifting and empowering.
Henri has a trademarked smile and a hustle for everything. His quick wit and slick words have earned him star status on the debate team of FATE Academy, a prestigious, Upper West Side prep school. The son of working-class Haitian immigrants, Henri feels pressured to be accepted into Columbia University — the school that kicked his family off-campus for “urban loitering” — and achieve the American dream. But after a disappointing interview where he fails to charm a Columbia alum, he’s afraid he’s lost his chance.
His classmate Corinne is also worried about her Ivy League application: she’s been told she’s too “intense.” She approaches him with a deal — she won’t reveal his slightly shady dog-walking hustle if he boosts her popularity. He reluctantly agrees to be her social mentor, only to find that her mom is actually a dean at Columbia. Maybe this deal could be beneficial for them both.
As their agreement slides into friendship and their friendship sparks into something more, Henri grapples with what price he’s willing to pay for Columbia — and whether he might be the one to learn from Corinne after all.
Ben Philippe’s novel is as witty and charming as its main character. Henri narrates his story in a warm, conspiratorial voice, so you feel like he’s whispering confessions and inside jokes into your ear. Anybody who is applying for college will relate to his angst (like when he refreshes his application portal 1 million times). His relationship with Corinne also rings true, and you’ll be rooting for the two of them from the moment they meet. It’s an opposites attract romance: he’s the popular boy at the party; she’s the girl who remembers new friends by index card. (Combine Paris Geller and Rory Gilmore, and you’ve got Corinne.)
Although the book addresses the dread of college applications, it does so in a lighthearted way. Quick banter, snarky asides, and quirky characters will make you laugh out loud — it’s the funniest book on our list by far.
Ronan Lynch can bring objects back from his dreams. Sometimes this is a handy trick — and sometimes it's a literal nightmare. When a fleet of toothy crabs crawls from his dreams and destroys his boyfriend’s dorm, Ronan gives up on an ordinary life. Instead, he plunges deeper into the black-market world of dreamers and their bizarre objects, desperate to learn from a shadowy dreamer known only as Bryde.
Jordan Hennessey is an art forger who, accidentally, dreams copies of herself — clone after clone after clone. It costs her. If she keeps this up, she'll die, but she doesn't know how to control her dreams. Her only hope is to learn from Ronan, although he's still discovering his own powers.
Farooq-Lane is not a dreamer. In fact, it's her job to hunt them down. After all, one of them is going to dream something so horrible, it ends the world. Or so she's been told.
Driven by deep desires for redemption and belonging, the three characters collide as the supposed dreamt apocalypse draws close.
If you're writing a character who can pull objects from his dreams, you've got to have a good imagination. Luckily, Maggie Stiefvater does. One of the best things about this book is Ronan’s bizarre, inventive dream objects: Gasoline, a minivan-sized boar who dissipates into a cloud of smoke; a blanket knit from fall leaves; a raven named Chainsaw; a miniature sun; a little brother. That last one is the tricky part. What do you do when you can dream humans into existence? And if they fall into eternal sleep when you die, where do you begin and they end?
Call Down the Hawk is fast-paced and filled with compelling characters. Stiefvater excels at writing spiky, snarky antiheroes with hearts of gold, which means both Ronan and Hennessey leap off the page. It's the ideal summer read if you're looking for a fantasy escape.
It’s the first in a standalone trilogy, but if you have extra time and haven't already read Steifvater’s Raven Cycle series, you might want to start with that. That’s where you will first meet Ronan as the fifth member of a squad of paranormal-adjacent teens.
River McIntyre feels trapped in their landlocked Ohio city, known for its one attraction: Sea Planet, a theme park/aquarium that keeps marine life captive. They especially relate to the Man o’ War, a purple-blue, jellylike sea creature that cannot survive in enclosed tanks.
Sometimes River isn’t sure they can survive either — until they meet the electric Indigo Waits, a happy, affirming queer person who shows River they can leap out of their assigned tank and into freedom. The novel follows River from their sophomore year of high school through college when they become the first trans swimmer on the Ohio University men’s team.
This coming-of-age novel is so gripping, you won't want to put it down. Cory McCarthy's writing style immerses us inside River’s mind and body. We are desperate to find out what happens to River because we feel like we ARE River. When River meets Indigo Waits on a field trip to Sea Planet, we feel the jolt of their instant chemistry. When River dives recklessly into an aquarium shark tank — because they feel as trapped as the marine life at Sea Planet — we splash into the frigid water with them. And when River embarks on a long journey of self-discovery, culminating in top surgery, we experience their joy.
Although the book is more about River’s internal journey than a true romance, their relationship with Indigo is one of the most heartfelt relationships I've ever read (made even sweeter by the author's dedication to his partner: For August, who wouldn't let the sharks keep me.)
Fourteen-year-old Huda just wants to feel like she belongs. In her old school, she was always the hijabi girl. But now that she's started high school in a new city with a strong Arab-Muslim community, she no longer stands out. So where does she fit in? And when she's not faking interest in other people's hobbies or trying to please her parents, what does she even like?
As she navigates a sea of cliques — from hijabi jocks to hijabi fashionistas — Huda must decide what her family, religion, and identity mean to her.
Take this funny, fast-paced graphic novel with you on your next beach day and you'll breeze through it in an hour. The cartoon-like illustrations are expressive and cheeky, showing the world through Huda’s eyes (her enigmatic sister Amani is drawn as a mysterious outline with a question mark instead of a face). Huda’s awkwardness is relatable as she tries to make friends but worries that her only personality traits are “calculators” and “getting one hundreds” on tests.
The author also touches on deeper themes — like when Huda has to stand up to an Islamophobic teacher or when she realizes that if she wants other teens to like her, she has to start by liking herself. Anyone ages 12 and up can enjoy this funny, poignant graphic novel — but you'll particularly relate to it if you're just starting a new high school.
Still looking for book recommendations? Wow, you're my kind of people. Check out this list of books to read to help you prepare for college or find out how you can make the most of your college library. If you're interested in starting your own Hero’s Journey by enrolling in college, our friendly admissions team is always happy to answer any questions you might have. Give us a call at 813-974-3350.